Removable body for hand trucks



y 1943- J. R. KATZMAN 2,318,231

REMOVABLE BODY FOR HAND TRUCKS Filed Sept. 1, 1 942 Patented May 4, 1943 'UNlTE STATES PATENT "OFFICE.

REMOVABLE BODY FOR HAND TRUCKS James R. Katzman, New York, N. Y. Application September 1, 1942, Serial No. 456,915 2 Claims. (01. 214-65) This invention relates to removable bodies for hand trucks and is of the same general type as that disclosed in Patent 1,548,094, dated August 4, 1925.

It has been found in practice that it has been difficult to handle the patented removable bodies of the type mentioned unless they have been mounted on hand trucks. Therefore, where a number of bodies have accumulated at one point and it has been desired to move them, while empty, to another point on the platform, it has been necessary to use a hand truck for the purpose of conveying them whereas the truck might better be used at the same time for more important purposes, such as the transportation of materials on bodies already loaded.

An object of the present invention is to provide a removable body which will have all of the advantages disclosed in the patent in question but which nevertheless can be easily pulled from place to place while empty or even while partly loaded, so that the hand truck commonly employed for shifting it from one point to another can be used for other purposes.

A further object is to provide a truck body which has supplemental wheels connected to the heel portions thereof, these wheels being so located that they will not interfere with the insertion of the lip of a hand truck under the body for the purpose of lifting and transporting the body.

A further object is to provide the body with wheels which normally are out of contact with the surface on which the truck is mounted so that they in no way interfere with the proper loading of the body.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a perspective view of a removable truck body provided with the present improvement.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the heel portion of the body.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3-3, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a rear elevation of one of the heel portions and the wheel joined thereto.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, I designates parallel bars disposed oppositely to each other and each provided at an intermediate point with a bend 2 whereby each strip is divided into a lower end portion 3 and an upper end portion 4, the two portions forming an obtuse angle. Cross strips 5 are suitably fastened to the lower end portions 3 of the bars to form a platform while additional cross strips 6 connect the upper portions of the bars I to complete the upstanding portion of the body.

For the purpose of reenforcing the bars I each of them is provided on its inner side with a reenforcing plate including an upwardly extending portion I and a forwardly extending portion 8, the two being joined by an integral heel portion 9 which extends backwardly away from the angle portions of the bars I. These reenforcing strips can be attached to the bars in any suitable manner, as by means of welding, and heel portions 9 are so proportioned as to extend backwardly a distance sufficient to prevent the body from tilting over backwardly when fully loaded.

A yoke is secured to the outer side of each heel portion 9 and comprises a plate Ill and an ofiset plate II, the two plates being riveted or otherwise fastened together at one end and also fastened, preferably by the same rivets to the heel portion 9. A small wheel or roller I3 is journalled within each of the yokes and each yoke preferably has its plates abutting against the adjacent bar I so as thus to assist in holding the yoke against twisting the attaching rivet or otherwise breaking the connection between the yoke and the heel portion to which it is attached. This abutment of the plates against bar I has been indicated clearly in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

Obviously the truck body constructed as described, can be loaded in the same manner as the body shown in the patent heretofore mentioned and, after the body has been loaded, the lip of a hand truck can be inserted thereunder and said body carted off on the truck in the usual Way. If the removable body is standing on a platform and it is desired to pull it from one position to another without using a, hand truck for that purpose, it becomes merely necessary to tilt the body back until the rollers l3 come in contact with the platform. The body can then be pushed like a truck to or from the position where it is to be used. To facilitate this operation a handle I4 can be secured to the upper cross strip 6.

What is claimed is:

1. A removable body for use in transferring a stacked load of material to and from a hand truck including bars having bottom portions positioned normally to rest on a supporting surface and upwardly extended portions, the two portions cooperating to provide an obtuse angle, connections between the two bars constituting respectively a platform portion and an upwardly extending back portion, heels extending from and rigidly connected to the angle portions of the bars and proportioned to hold the body against accidental tilting in one direction under the weight of a load stacked on the body, rollers, and means rigidly connected to the heels for supporting the rollers back of the heels and wholly above the plane occupied by said bottom portions.

2. A removable body for hand trucks includ-- ing opposed bars each having an upwardly extended portion and a forwardly extended bottom portion, said portions of each bar cooperating to form an obtuse angle, strips connecting the bars to provide a platform and an upwardly extending back respectively, said bottom portions of the bars constituting means for engaging a supporting surface to support the platform thereabove, heels extending from the bars at the angles formed by the bottom and upwardly extending portions thereof, yokes abutting against the bars and rigidly connected to the heels, said yokes being extended backwardly from the upwardly extending portions of the bars, and wheels carried by the yokes, said yokes constituting means for supporting the wheels back of the heels and normally at a level above the surface normally engaged by the bottom portions of the bars.

JAMES R. KA'IZMAN. 

